Fuel Added to Fire in Shooting by Officer : Private Investigator Cites Witness Accounts, Calls Incident ‘Execution’

A lawyer and a private investigator hired by the family of Stanley P. Buchanan said Thursday that an autopsy corroborates statements from half a dozen witnesses who claim that the man was repeatedly shot by a San Diego police officer, even after he began to fall and hit the floor.

They also said that two witnesses remember Officer Timothy A. Fay saying loud and clear after emptying his service revolver: “He won’t get up now!”

Tore Through His Body

Attorney Richard Potack and his investigator, A. Latif Salaama, said in separate interviews Thursday that the autopsy determined that half of the six shots fired at Buchanan tore downward through his body.

They said that conclusion confirms statements from witnesses who said Buchanan was shot twice by Fay, and then four times more as he spun, fell and lay bleeding on the floor of his apartment last month.

‘Was an Execution’

“That just backs up our contention that he was on the ground,” Salaama said. “He was on the ground and being shot, and this was an execution of an unarmed man.”

Fay and two other police officers were searching for drugs April 22 in the Logan Avenue apartment, where Buchanan was frisked and found to be in possession of rock cocaine.

According to police, the officers were preparing to arrest Buchanan when he suddenly reached for one of the officer’s flashlights. At that point, Fay feared for the safety of the other officers and began firing, police said.

The fatal shooting has sparked a sharp outcry from the black community, with Urban League of San Diego officials and other leaders questioning whether such deadly force was necessary. The case is now before the district attorney, who is weighing whether criminal charges, if any, should be filed against Fay.

Buchanan was shot in the chest, left shoulder and back.

The autopsy report showed that the trajectories of two of the bullets were at 75 degrees downward through Buchanan’s body, one at 45 degrees downward and two more at 30 degrees downward. The sixth shot, which was the only bullet that entered the back, was slightly downward, at 5 degrees.

Revised Story

Shortly after the shooting, Potack said it was his understanding that the 32-year-old man was shot twice, fell face up on the floor, and then was shot four more times.

But Potack and Salaama revised that scenario Thursday. They said that, in their subsequent investigation, Salaama obtained several taped interviews in which witnesses said Buchanan was shot twice while backed up against a wall, and then shot four more times as he fell face down to the floor.

“The autopsy is consistent with what witnesses say,” said Potack. “Obviously, he was down when he was shot.”

Salaama added: “He was shot twice at a 75-degree angle, which means he was either on the ceiling or the floor. And I don’t think he was on the ceiling.”

They also said that two of the witnesses--one inside the small apartment and the other just outside--vividly recall Fay, an 11-year police veteran, telling his fellow officers that “he won’t get up now” after the shooting ended and Buchanan lay mortally wounded on the floor.

“That quote tells me that he sees himself as Wyatt Earp,” Potack said about Fay, who has been the target of several brutality lawsuits.

Fay has not spoken publicly about the shooting. He remains with the Police Department, performing administrative duties.